Zashiki-Warashi
by Jason M. Lee
Summary: Sometimes, it's the little things that can speak a little more of one's heart.


_Devil May Cry_ © Capcom

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**Zashiki-Warashi**

Jason M. Lee

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Lady blinked at the small figure that had been unceremoniously handed to her.

"This is 'Lil Dante.' Keep him."

She studied the item a little longer, noting how even miniaturized the cockiness was still there, smirk and all with the tiny Ebony, Ivory, and Rebellion. Lady warily side-glanced at Dante, unsure on what to do with the figure. He's given her many things over the years, from money (at least he was making some progress on his debts), to ammunition and equipment, to information on new leads. A figurine that seemed more suited for a nerdy collector or a child, on the other hand, felt a bit spontaneous from him. (Then again, his occasional whimsy had some meaning behind it.) "...why give me this 'lil' you? And where did you even find someone to model this based on you?"

"Buddy who knows a guy who knows a guy. And w-well, I..." Dante sheepishly scratched the back of his head, eyes shifting away from meeting hers. Confident in front of nasty demons, sure. Not giving a crap of what others spoke of him, par for the course. His own version of words of wisdom, yeah. Feeling this flustered... If Eva was still alive, he wouldn't doubt his mother would be laughing at him. "...was thinking he could keep you company."

"Eh?" Her heart did _not_ just do cartwheels around the scythes of Hell Prides or Lusts.

He couldn't remember the last time he felt this embarrassed. Except maybe that one time when he tried to make a surprise breakfast for Eva's birthday with Vergil (which resulted in one hell of a mess). In all honesty, said buddy's friend's friend worked in the toy industry and had ribbed him non-stop as she guided him throughout the sculpting process. "W-when you're feeling lonely!" _'Reeeal smooth there, dolt.'_

Lady out right stared at the younger half-devil, eyes wide as her face lit up like a lamp and her heart now doing gymnastics. Nearly twenty years of devil hunting, she couldn't really remember the last time she was this discombobulated and not in the negative sense. "...h-huh?!"

_'Aw, shit...'_ "I mean- that is-"

As both hunters tried to talk some sense to each other, struggling through the bright red blushes on their faces, they forgot about having an audience present. Nico had her back turned, although it was easy to tell from her shaking shoulders that she was hysterically laughing. While Nero was rebooting his brain on trying to comprehend "my crazy uncle is completely FAILING at this," Trish was calmly snapping pictures away on her smartphone.

Opposite of Nero on Trish's other side, Vergil simply pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a soft resigned sigh. "Are they or are they not together? Or, much as I'm loathe to ask, has he actually courted her in any fashion?"

The electric she-devil all but smirked, still tapping away and sending the more "cute" pictures to Kyrie. "It's complicated."

Vergil gave her a flat glare. He was still trying to get used to the blonde's presence and bit back a more scathing comment, his long dusty "protective big brother instincts" kicking in momentarily. (Odd, he didn't think he still had them, but there they were, buried underneath a pile of everything else.) Dante might be an idiot, but he was _his_ idiotic little brother. Even with the familial pain between the two of them still on the mend, Vergil wasn't that keen on seeing Dante's heart broken in that fashion either - they had gone through more than enough suffering. "It's been 'complicated' for over 20 years, Trish."

That snapped Nero out of his current short-circuiting, only to send him teetering into another one. He's known from Morrison and what few mercenaries he's run into that Dante and Lady were renown hunters in their own right, some attaching the moniker "Legendary Devil Hunter" to his uncle (questionable title it may be) and "the Walking Arsenal" to Lady. On the other hand, Nero hadn't been sure whether to believe the comments regarding whatever was going on between Dante and Lady, going by the frequent accompanying eyebrow waggling and elbow nudging with smirks - he even caught a few whispers about several types of bets when they thought he couldn't hear them. "What the hell?! Are you serious?! I've heard of courtship stories about some couples going on for several years - hell, there's a few with some of the older noble families - but that usually starts when the couple were KIDS! And even then that's typically because it was arranged by their parents! Are you telling me that these two have been at this since THEY FIRST MET?!"

"Shhh!" Trish shushed, now fully smirking. Traveling around the Human World sometimes never failed to amaze her, and after the whole Qliphoth mess, she felt entitled to some entertainment, especially from Dante and Lady. "Don't rush them!"

Nero didn't give a damn on being quiet, hands throwing up into the air in exasperation and gesturing at the couple still lost in their word-fumbling world. "_It's been 20 fucking years_, Trish!"

"Better than using amputated demon parts that weren't completely drained of their fluids, like how Father gifted to Mother initially before switching to hunting equipment," Vergil muttered _sotto voce_. "I recall Mother mentioning on having to remind Father a few times to lay out plastic first."

Giving up, Nero buried his face into his hands in minor despair, ignoring Nico leaning against him, now doubled over and howling with tears leaking from her eyes. _'Why me...?'_

In the end, Dante was finally able to convince Lady to keep the figurine. 'Lil Dante' soon found a home on a shelf next to a group photo in her apartment.

-3-1-2-4-5-

Locking the door behind her, Lady sighed in exhaustion, slowly placing her firearms on the heavy coffee table covered with newspaper for later maintenance. One of her pistols had almost jammed twice, and the crossbow needed some readjusting when one bolt had gone off target. Late as it was, the only plan she had at the moment was just taking a shower to get rid of any grime before sleeping, having been running on fumes and whatever lingering bit of caffeine in her system over the past 48 hours. She hated bodyguard jobs, but the harassing demon had been killed, she got to enjoy some fancy food (except it didn't quite provide enough necessary calories), and her charge was safe, so she couldn't really complain too much.

Slumping against her sofa, Lady's eyes wandered over to the little Dante figure sitting on her shelf. Despite herself, she couldn't help but smile a little at him. "Hey, little guy. Hope it wasn't too boring for you by yourself."

It seemed somewhat silly on talking to a toy, but at the same time it somehow felt comforting, her sounding off the events of the job. It might've been almost two weeks since the toy was gifted to her, but the huntress had to begrudgingly admit she didn't feel as lonely as before. In a way, this Lil Dante wasn't likely to tease her or judge her too much, even though the smirk had occasionally sent her on minor rants regarding the real one. Breathing in deeply once she was done venting, Lady reluctantly got up and shuffled off to her bathroom, basically petty revenge against her noisy upstairs neighbors' recent "night battles." (Shame her landlord was so reluctant to spring for improvements.) She might had been far more tired than she thought because not long after taking her shower, she was fast asleep on her bed.

It was the very slight creak of her bedroom door that had Lady instinctively reaching for the pistol under her pillow, experience from far too many times of being ambushed in out of town motels. Carefully, she cracked one eye open and internal amazement was the primary reason why she hadn't pulled out her gun.

Squeezing through the gap, the tiny Dante figure tiptoed across the floor, pausing every so often and looking about with actual caution on his face. Rebellion was still attached to his back, but it looked like he had holstered Ebony and Ivory. Slowly, he climbed up the sheet that dangled over the bed and started tugging it up once he got onto the bed.

If it was any other being, Lady would've immediately aimed at the intruder, but the fact that this was _Lil Dante_ being quiet had her holding her fire and she was partially curious as to what he was going to do. As if relieved that she was still asleep, Lil Dante began dragging the blanket slowly over her, readjusting every once in awhile. Other than minor wonder, a bit of warmth danced alongside in her chest at the gesture.

Satisfied on having sufficiently tucked Lady in, Lil Dante nodded to himself and made for the bed's edge before freezing at the click of a safety flicking off.

"Really, now. Entering into a lady's room without permission? How unbecoming, even for your original self," she teased, propping on an elbow and smirking. "Unless it was for bodyguard purposes."

A sheepish expression alongside scratching behind his head as Lil Dante turned around. While it was somewhat endearing on the real Dante, it was downright adorable on the little guy.

"I'd ask since when have you been able to move, but I guess you might not be able to answer it." A nod confirmed her suspicions, yet it begged the question on how Lil Dante was moving under his own power. On the other hand, Dante's own demonic energy giving proverbial life wouldn't be that far off the mark, possessed dolls being rather commonplace. "One more thing: you're not going to cause any problems staying with me, are you?"

If he shook his head any harder, Lady swore it would've popped right off, and the scandalized look on Lil Dante's face caused her to smile a bit again. It was rather heartwarming on how offended he was at that very thought - even with all the teasing Dante's done over the years, he's always respected her boundaries.

"Glad that we've come to an understanding." She paused after flicking the safety back on and slipping back under her pillow. Being whimsy wasn't in her, but - _'Just this once...'_ \- she lightly dropped a kiss on top of his head. "...thanks, by the way."

The beaming grin Lil Dante gave could easily rival the sun before he slipped back out, a spring in his step.

-3-1-2-4-5-

Dante wasn't expecting the reciprocated gift a few weeks later.

"This..." Lady unceremoniously dropped the soft figure into his hand. "...is 'Lil Lady.' Keep her."

Calloused fingers gently rolled the plush caricature of Lady, feeling along the seams, felt, and the stitched "X" as a mouth. Icy blue eyes blinked rapidly, trying to stay focused on the glazed beads that matched the same color of her eyes. Nonetheless, he glanced at her. "...why give me this 'lil' you? And where'd you find this?"

"Friend who knows a friend who knows a friend. And well, I..." Lady smiled in spite of the dusting of pink on her cheeks. "...was thinking she could keep you company."

"Eh?" His heart was _not_ doing wheelies and donuts on Cavaliere through a bunch of Furies and Hell Judeccas.

She fiddled more than readjusted Kalina Ann's strap and switches, barely meeting Dante's gaze. The "friend's friend" was actually a professional tailor who had re-taught her how to do basic sewing repairs after she had inadvertently saved his life from a possessed overlock machine, and had a gleeful grin when Lady had asked him on how to put together a plushie. "When... when you're feeling lonely."

His heart was somehow Tricking with Cavaliere on top of Lucifer's swords and his own Summoned Swords at full throttle. Oddly, the Lil Lady plush in his hand felt warmer, matching that ball in his chest. Dante couldn't help breaking out a goofy smile. "...thanks."

Further away, Trish cheerfully snapped more pictures on her phone to later share (not blackmail, she wasn't _that_ cruel). Nero looked ready to just be done with it, turning on his heel and stomping back to the motorhome while cursing about awkward and dorky-ass relatives, whereas Nico was hunched over the steering wheel laughing. Again. The older Son of Eva at the moment showed polite disinterest while leaning next to the blue neon sign with arms crossed and a thoughtful tilt to his head.

Once alone and walking towards the red convertible, Vergil observed Dante out of the corner of his eye. For once, the younger twin was quiet, still studying the doll in his hand, their boots crunching gravel being the only sounds next to the surrounding city life. Vergil moved his gaze forward when Dante carefully brought the doll up to his lips in a chaste kiss before tucking it away into his jacket. Externally, the older twin showed no emotion, although Vergil did dust off a little more of those big brother instincts. He still had some ways to go with Lady, given Temen-ni-gru, but like with Nero, one day at a time.

He was internally glad that his little brother was able to find some additional happiness, and as his duty as the oldest of their family, he approved of her.

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**A/N:** Based on super-jump's "Keep Him" comic of Dante giving a Nendoroid version of himself to Lady over on Tumblr.

Title refers to zashiki-warashi, 座敷童子 or 座敷童, "guest room child", which are Japanese house spirits that sometimes perform pranks, but also sometimes bring good fortune to a home as household deities, depending on where the stories are told. Appearances vary, but most depictions in traditional stories have them as young children between five and six years old. Anime fans might've heard of them in the first two episodes of the anime _Mononoke_ モノノ怪 with the Medicine Seller (spun off of _Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales_), as well the one Kimihito Watanuki encounters in Clamp's manga _xxxHolic_.


End file.
